Chuck – Large muscle group that needs a longer time to cook. Think pot roast.Rib – Fatty and tough. Bone in has more flavor.Brisket – Fatty meat that when slow cooked has a nice texture and should shred apart. There are two parts to brisket. The first cut is called the flat and it’s less fatty. The second cut is called the point which is fattier and good for smoking and barbecue.

Back Of Cow

Top Sirloin – Lean and tender but a tad higher price pointTenderloin (Filet) – least worked muscle on a cow which makes it tender. Also low fat.Flank (Short Plate) – Looks like a ping pong paddle. Very lean and mild in flavor. Cooks quickly.Round – Found in the hind leg. Great for Roast Beef.

2. Know The Grade

Prime Beef: The US has a grading system and USDA Prime Beef is at the top. It has more marbling (network of fine lines of white fat) than other cuts. This extra marbling, higher feed quality and aging adds to the flavor and texture making it the creme de la creme. It’s also the most expensive.

Choice Beef: USDA Choice Beef is the next best grade of beef. It has less marbling than Prime but more than Select. This type of beef is what you would typically find at the local grocery store.

Select Beef: Has the least amount of marbling which makes it much leaner, less tender and juicier than the other two. Definitely not top quality steaks.

Regular Ground Beef: Higher in fat content (20%-30%) which means it’s going to be juicy and packed with flavor. Usually cut from the trimmings of inexpensive cuts like brisket and shank.

Ground Chuck: Roughly 15%-20% fat content that comes from a cut of chuck. It’s not as fatty and can be labeled as lean ground beef.

Ground Round: Cut from the back (round) of the cow this cut has about 12% fat. Clearly not as much fat so it’s great to cook with other ingredients to add flavor with minimal fat. This is also referred to as extra-lean ground beef.

Ground Sirloin: One of the leanest and most expensive forms of ground beef. It can contain anywhere from 10%-14% fat and comes from the midsection of the animal. Also labels as extra-lean ground beef.

What To Look For When Buying Chicken

Chicken is good. You should eat chicken. However, you should be smart when trying to buy chicken. In order to be smart when buying chicken, that would require you to read labels. Here’s what you need to know

Cage Free: Chicken is free to roam in an area. Useless when it comes to meat as caging is used to make egg collection more efficient with laying hens.

No Antibiotics: Chickens never received medicine to help prevent disease or facilitate growth.

No Hormones: Growth hormones in poultry has been banned since 1959. They should all say this.

Natural: this term isn’t really regulated but it generally means “no artificial ingredients or added color and is only minimally processed.” So chicken is natural.

Free Range: Chicken has access to roam pasture or outside of cage. There isn’t really a requirement so the chicken could technically stay caged for days even though there is a little door available for it to roam.